Vigilante
by Flash Foreward
Summary: A mysterious murder with little evidence to aid the team connects to a series of unsolved murders. And, with Horatio missing, the team is left to puzzle things out for themselves. But the answer to all of this is...unbelievable. Some Eric/Ryan mentioned.


**A/N:** I haven't watched Miami in ages...I gave up on it. But, I felt like I needed to write this story. Any critiques on characterization are welcome. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own CSI Miami.

**Vigilante **

_Today's story takes us to sunny Miami, Florida, where Horatio Caine, the Supervisor of the Day Shift for the Miami-Dade Police Department's Crime Scene Investigation unit was arrested on evidence that linked him to numerous unsolved murders as well as a more recent crime._

The sun cast eerie shadows over the small clearing where his body lay. The leaves rustled with the light, almost nonexistent breeze. He lay flat on his stomach, his limbs splayed out at odd angles and his blue eyes open, a look of shock still adorning his face even as blood spilled from the wound in his head.

"He obviously wasn't killed here," a dark, black hared woman said, carefully kneeling down beside the dead man. She pointed to the wound with a gloved finger and looked up at two men standing over her, shielding her eyes from the sun glaring from behind them with her other hand. "This is too clean. Whoever did this tried not to leave a trail."

"So," one of the men said, he had shaggy brown hair that shone in the bright light, and his green eyes were shadowed by the way his head was tilted to look down at the body and the Medical Examiner beside it. "This is a dump job?"

"Yes, Ryan," the woman replied. "There isn't enough blood here for it to be anything else."

"Thank you, Alexx," Ryan said, turning to glance behind him. The other man, whose black hair framed dark, brown eyes and a tanner face than Ryan's, kept his gaze on the body, hardly hearing as Ryan asked, "Hey, has anyone seen H?" Alexx shook her head.

"I haven't," she said, glancing around her. She looked back to Ryan. "It's odd, he's usually the first one to a scene."

"Yeah, the other man said. "With Tripp."

"Well, Eric," Ryan said, turning to the man as Alexx stood. "Tripp's here but H isn't."

"I hope everything's alright," Alexx said, pulling off her gloves. She looked from Eric to Ryan. "There's nothing else I can do here, I'll see if anything more definitive comes up in the autopsy."

"Thanks, Alexx," Eric said. Ryan nodded his farewell and the two men began to photograph the scene and search for evidence.

As she made her way to her car, Alexx passed a heavy-set, balding man and a slim, blonde haired woman speaking to the jogger who had found the dead man. Alexx paused by them, waiting for their interview to be over.

"Thank you," the woman said kindly. "If you could wait over by those cars, we'll have an officer speak to you in a few minutes." As the tall man, dressed only in short running shorts, retreated to the line of police cars, both the woman and the balding man turned to Alexx.

"Did you find something, Alexx?" the woman asked.

"Only that that poor man was moved, Calleigh," Alexx replied before turning her attention to the man. "Tripp, do you know where Horatio is?" she queried. Tripp shrugged.

"Figured he'd be here when I got here," he replied. "But, no, I haven't seen him all day." Alexx nodded and said her farewells before leaving the scene to the CSIs; and while Tripp and another officer spoke to the jogger, Calleigh, Eric and Ryan went over the clearing for every scrap of evidence they could find.

_The Sheriff and the Mayor have refused to comment at this time, however our sources say that the evidence from the body found several days ago by a jogger connected to a series of cold cases from the past few years. The cases were all reopened, and further investigation found that Detective Caine was linked to all of the victims. There has been no comment on how as of yet, but we will return to this story when we have more information._

Ryan gazed down at the lab results from a fiber they had found on their victim's wrist. All the report said was it was from a suit. A generic, black suit. It was well made, but that didn't narrow down the options much further, and Ryan sighed as he tucked the evidence away in the folder, giving up on one line of the investigation.

As he left the Trace lab, he caught sight of Calleigh and Eric standing at the end of the hall, talking about something. He walked briskly towards them, past the glass walls of Miami-Dade's other labs and offices, ignoring the lab-techs busy with their work. Calleigh and Eric looked to him when he reached them, their faces grim.

"There's still no sign of H," Eric said. "And our case just got harder."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked, groaning inwardly at the thought of any more complications cropping up in an already complicated case.

"There're two other cases from the past two years that match this one," Calleigh said, holding up two manila folders. "Right down to the fiber on their wrists."

"You have got to be kidding me," Ryan said, reaching for the files. Calleigh handed them to him and he tucked the one he had been holding under his arm while he flipped through.

"It gets worse," Eric said.

"How much worse can it get?" Ryan asked, looking up at him. "We've got three nearly unsolvable murders that all appear to be related." Eric cleared his throat and glanced nervously at Calleigh, Ryan looked to her, but in the end it was Eric who answered.

"They're all connected to H," he said. Ryan stared at him and slowly handed the folders back to Calleigh.

"You don't honestly think…," he started, but trailed off. Eric shrugged and Calleigh shook her head.

"There's no way…"

They stood in silence for awhile, none wanting to say what all were thinking. Finally, Eric spoke.

"Then why isn't he here?"

_Detective Caine was found at a hospital two counties over from Miami-Dade. He had sustained a bullet wound to the thigh and had driven as far as he could before blood-loss mandated that he pull over. Sources say that he was arrested immediately and went without protest._

_The Sheriff and Mayor are still refusing comment._

Ryan looked from file to file, ignoring Eric's hot breath tickling the back of his neck as the other man read over his shoulder. Calleigh, who had read through the files when she found them, had gone to procure coffee for the all-nighter the three of them were planning on pulling.

"So," Ryan said in an attempt to distract himself from how close Eric's body was. "Our most recent victim, Perry Gullen, was the son of a crime lord H took down when he first became a cop?" Eric nodded, shifting closer to Ryan to lean down and point at the second file.

"And he put Jane Williamson away for vehicular manslaughter, but she was released on parole," he explained. Ryan nodded, forcing himself to focus on the case and not Eric by imagining having to arrest Horatio Caine, his boss and mentor. The thought of it alone brought him under control and he looked to the final file.

"Harold Charlston," he said. "Went to Juvy for petty theft, then was in prison for drug dealing."

"Whoever did this escalated over the years," Eric said. "Drug dealers, manslaughter due to DWI, and then a junior crime lord."

"Do you think Horatio did this?" Ryan asked, turning his face to Eric. Their faces were inches apart and Ryan felt his breath hitch. He wished Eric would answer so he could look away without seeming…awkward.

The moment dragged by with no word from Eric, and didn't end until the sound of a throat being cleared came from behind them. Ryan quickly looked away as Eric turned around, and he glanced over his shoulder to find Calleigh standing in the doorway.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she drawled. Eric shook his head while Ryan turned away to close up the folders. Calleigh continued.

"Good," she said, and Ryan listened to the click of her heels as she walked up behind him. "Because we have a case to solve."

She looked down at the pile of folders, and Ryan felt Eric turn around again. His arm brushed against Ryan's for a moment before Eric stepped to the side a little, removing any chance of further contact.

"Any leads?" Calleigh asked, seemingly oblivious to the men beside her.

"You mean besides the obvious?" Eric queried, Calleigh shot him a glare.

"Horatio couldn't have done this," she said. "He's one of us. He's not a criminal."

"What if," Ryan mused. "He didn't think he was doing anything criminal?"

"Ryan, H isn't stupid," Eric retorted. Ryan shook his head.

"No, I know," he explained. "But every one of these murders is of a criminal. What if-"

"He went vigilante?" Calleigh finished, Ryan nodded. "I don't know…"

_Our sources have revealed that the police think Detective Caine may have been acting as a vigilante for not only Miami-Dade County, but for the city of Miami itself. No further comments have been made in regards to this case, but the Sheriff will be holding a press conference tomorrow afternoon to address any questions._

No one on the day-shift could question him, but they were all there for his interrogation. Watching through the glass as one of the swing-shift detectives went over the evidence, all of them waiting for some revelation. None came. In the end, Horatio Caine confessed to committing all three murders, and two others whose bodies had not been yet been found.

He gave the detective the locations before an officer led him, handcuffed, from the room. He didn't look at his team as he passed, but they all watched him. He kept his gaze ahead, his head high, as though he had nothing to hide. As though nothing had changed.

But the cuffs on his wrists meant that _everything_ had changed.

When the man was relatively out of site, they all just stared at the empty hallway, watching his image distorted through panes and panes of glass. Finally, Alexx spoke, breaking the silence they all wished would just end.

"I'd better get that poor baby ready for his family," she said before turning away and leaving. Tripp was next, but he said nothing, just shook his head and walked away. Calleigh looked up at Ryan and Eric; both men's faces were set in anger. She reached out and squeezed Ryan's arm.

"There was nothing we could do," she said. "We did our jobs, that's what matters." Ryan didn't look at her, but Eric let his gaze meet hers. She nodded at the look in his eye and left after giving them one last semi-reassuring glance.

When she was gone, Eric turned Ryan to face him, holding his upper arms tightly.

"We did all we could," he said. "Innocent until proven guilty, like always." Ryan shook his head, avoiding Eric's gaze.

"He…I…I trusted him!" he spat, finally bringing his eyes to meet Eric's. Eric fought the urge to step back when he saw the darkness in them, and instead stepped forward. Ryan, however, pulled brusquely away and started down the hall. He came to a sudden halt when Eric grabbed a hold of his shoulder and swung him around yet again, slamming him up against a wall.

"We all trusted him," Eric hissed. "Do you think you're the only one? He was our supervisor, our _leader_! But he _needed_ to be brought down." Eric let go of Ryan's shoulder and tried to take a step back, but the other man grabbed his wrist tightly and pulled him closer.

"I still…can't believe it," Ryan said, his voice faltering. Eric watched as the hatred and anger in the other man's expression slowly turned into dulled pain, and he hesitantly reached out his arms, wrapping them around Ryan's body and running his fingers through the other man's hair.

_The trial of Detective Horatio Caine was concluded earlier this evening. Detective Caine has been found guilty of the five murders for which he was arrested. He has been sentenced to life in prison._


End file.
